BBC defends royal fiction

The BBC has defended a historical drama about King Charles II which contains scenes of "pure fiction".

A scene in the four-part blockbuster, which starts this Sunday, shows an axe falling on Charles I and splashing the heir to the throne with his father's blood. In fact the teenage prince was in France during the 1649 execution.

Adrian Hodges, who wrote Charles II - The Power and the Passion for BBC1, said: "In reinventing a period of history there are certain shortcuts that have to be taken."

And producer Kate Harwood claimed the programme had "essential truth, which is after all more important than fact listing".